Towards a Unified Understanding of eHealth and Related Terms – Proposal of a Consolidated Terminological Basis

Lena Otto, Lorenz Harst, Hannes Schlieter, Bastian Wollschlaeger, Peggy Richter, Patrick Timpel

2018

Abstract

The impact of digitization on healthcare gives rise to interdisciplinary concepts such as eHealth. However, achieving improvements in research and innovation requires a valid and unified understanding of the common terminology. Yet, a heterogeneous usage of different terms regarding eHealth can be observed. This leads to a deficient communication between researchers and practitioners, impeding the diffusion, i. e. extensive practical implementation of innovative health concepts. To address this problem, our aim is to consolidate and harmonize eHealth-related terminology. To this end, a literature analysis was conducted to identify established definitions and to formulate a terminological ontology for the related concepts. The current results show a consistent definition of the terms digitization, ICT, and telematics. In contrast, telemedicine, telehealth, eHealth, and mHealth were identified as conflictingly defined terms. Consequently, the proposed ontology serves as a first guidance to support an adequate use of the included terms. Further systematic research of terms is needed to verify the current concept of the ontology. Additionally, specifying the connection between the ontology and the elements of healthcare systems is required for a deeper understanding of the influence of digitization in healthcare.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Otto L., Harst L., Schlieter H., Wollschlaeger B., Richter P. and Timpel P. (2018). Towards a Unified Understanding of eHealth and Related Terms – Proposal of a Consolidated Terminological Basis. In Proceedings of the 11th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies (BIOSTEC 2018) - Volume 5: HEALTHINF; ISBN 978-989-758-281-3, SciTePress, pages 533-539. DOI: 10.5220/0006651005330539

in Bibtex Style

@conference{healthinf18,
author={Lena Otto and Lorenz Harst and Hannes Schlieter and Bastian Wollschlaeger and Peggy Richter and Patrick Timpel},
title={Towards a Unified Understanding of eHealth and Related Terms – Proposal of a Consolidated Terminological Basis},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 11th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies (BIOSTEC 2018) - Volume 5: HEALTHINF},
year={2018},
pages={533-539},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0006651005330539},
isbn={978-989-758-281-3},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 11th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies (BIOSTEC 2018) - Volume 5: HEALTHINF
TI - Towards a Unified Understanding of eHealth and Related Terms – Proposal of a Consolidated Terminological Basis
SN - 978-989-758-281-3
AU - Otto L.
AU - Harst L.
AU - Schlieter H.
AU - Wollschlaeger B.
AU - Richter P.
AU - Timpel P.
PY - 2018
SP - 533
EP - 539
DO - 10.5220/0006651005330539
PB - SciTePress